New Delhi, Sep 29: Following the Supreme Court’s decision to quash the preventive detention of Mulla Afroz under the National Security Act (NSA) in connection with the November 2024 Sambhal violence, Congress MP Imran Masood and Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) president Chandrashekhar Azad on Tuesday criticised the Uttar Pradesh government.

The Supreme Court held that the power of preventive detention had been illegally exercised and imposed costs of Rs 10 lakh on the Uttar Pradesh government. The court also set aside the Allahabad High Court order that had upheld the detention.

Speaking to media, Masood said, “It has not only been quashed. Please read the complete news. Along with quashing the NSA, a fine of Rs 10 lakh has also been imposed on the state government.”

“Officials should understand that the agenda they are pursuing with their eyes closed will eventually lead to files reaching the Supreme Court and could send them behind bars. The Saharanpur mosque case will also come up in the same manner,” he said.

Masood further said, “There are documents that are speaking for themselves. You cannot hide those documents. Demolishing mosques and persecuting people based on religion goes against the Indian Constitution. The same Constitution that gives you the authority to hold office also guarantees the protection of our rights.”

Aazad Samaj Party president and Nagina MP, Chandrashekhar Azad, said the Rs 10 lakh cost imposed by the Supreme Court was inadequate.

“A Rs 10 lakh fine is too little. The government and police send innocent people to jail on the government’s orders, and when the judiciary imposes a fine on them, it is only Rs 10 lakh. In my view, the fine should have been Rs 10 crore,” he said.

Azad alleged that the NSA was being used to suppress opposition voices and silence cases, adding that he had himself been detained under the law.

“I am sitting before you today after the government detained me under the NSA despite me being innocent. I was kept in jail for 16 months,” he said.

“The government wants to suppress voices of opposition and silence cases through the NSA. The people will not be suppressed either. When the people and the state stand up, they will remove this government from power,” he added.

The Supreme Court’s ruling came on a petition filed by Mulla Afroz, who was arrested in connection with the Sambhal violence.

Ratlam, Sep 29: At least four people were killed and eight others injured in two separate road accidents on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam district on Tuesday, police said.

The accidents occurred within a span of about two hours on the eight-lane expressway under the jurisdiction of Jaora Industrial police station, with both cars plunging into a 30-40 feet deep gorge after hitting the central median.

The first accident took place around 4:30 a.m. when a car carrying a family from Punjab, travelling from Ambala in Haryana to Mumbai, hit the median railing.

The vehicle broke through a portion of the railing and fell into the gorge, police said. Narendra Kaur (67) and her daughter-in-law Manpreet Kaur (32), both from Punjab, died in the accident. Three other occupants, including an elderly man and two children, were injured.

“Prima facie, it appears that the driver may have become drowsy while driving at high speed and lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit the railing,” Jaora Industrial police station in-charge Prakash Gadariya said.

Police reached the spot after receiving information from other motorists and shifted the injured to a hospital in Jaora.

They were later referred to Ratlam Medical College for further treatment. While police personnel were examining the site of the first accident, another car carrying a family from Dahod in Gujarat met with an accident around 6:30 a.m., police said.

The second vehicle, bearing registration number GJ20 CB 4610, reportedly went airborne after hitting the central median and fell into the gorge.

The railing at the spot had been damaged in the first accident. Ravi Hatila (35), who was driving the second car, and Ramesh Makwana (50), both from Dahod, were killed. Four to five other occupants of the vehicle were injured.

“The railing had been damaged in the first accident, and while our personnel were conducting an inspection at the spot, the second car hit the median and fell into the gorge,” Gadariya said.

The Gujarat family was returning to Dahod after travelling to Uttar Pradesh for medical treatment of a family member.

Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding both accidents, including the condition of the road infrastructure and the factors that led to the vehicles losing control.

Moradabad, Sep 29: Two men were killed after a speeding SUV collided with their e-scooter, sending it flying, in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad on Tuesday, officials said.

According to the preliminary information, a speeding SUV struck the e-scooter carrying the two friends, resulting in a fatal accident. The force of the collision was such that the e-scooter was hurled away, leaving both riders critically injured. They later succumbed to their injuries.

Following the accident, police reached the spot and took the bodies into custody. The bodies were subsequently sent for post-mortem examinations as part of the investigation into the incident.

The driver of the SUV allegedly fled from the spot after abandoning the vehicle. Police have taken the SUV into custody and brought it to the police station for further investigation.

The vehicle is reportedly owned by Mohammad Naveed, a resident of the Civil Lines police station area. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the accident and are also working to establish the identity and whereabouts of the person who was driving the SUV at the time of the collision.

The deceased have been identified as Mohammad Rihan and Abuzar, both residents of Salempur village under the Kanth police station area of Moradabad.

News of the deaths left the families of the two young men devastated. Relatives and other family members were inconsolable following the fatal accident, while the families have demanded strict action against the person responsible for the crash.

According to Rihan’s family, he had been working in Dubai and was scheduled to return there, with his flight booked for October 1. The family said that he was the sole earning member of the household and that his father has been unwell.

A family member expressed anguish over the circumstances of the accident and demanded action against the SUV driver.

“The SUV rider may be a wealthy man, but what about them? The light of our home is gone,” the family member said.

The incident has once again raised concerns over road accidents involving speeding SUVs in Moradabad. Locals pointed out that this was not the first such incident in the district in recent days.

Just three days ago, an SUV allegedly hit an e-rickshaw that was parked on the roadside in the Kundarki police station area. The earlier incident also resulted in a fatality, adding to concerns over road safety and reckless driving in the area.

Meanwhile, in a road accident reported from Chandigarh earlier on Tuesday, an SUV being driven by a woman collided with a motorcycle near the bridge close to Dhanas Lake, leaving two people injured.

The two injured persons, who were travelling on the motorcycle when the collision took place, were subsequently taken to a hospital for treatment. Their condition was not immediately known.

Police took both the SUV and the motorcycle into custody as part of the investigation.

Police in both incidents are examining the circumstances surrounding the respective collisions.